1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an unsymmetrical infeed plate for directing harvested crop to an axial flow rotor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Agricultural combines are large machines that harvest, thresh, separate and clean an agricultural crop. The resulting clean grain is stored in a grain tank located on the combine. The clean grain can then be transported from the grain tank to a truck, grain cart or other receiving bin by an unloading auger.
Axial flow combines have one or two large rotors arranged along the longitudinal axis of the machine for threshing and separating the harvested crop material. Harvested crop material is directed to the axial rotors by a feederhouse. Most feederhouses transport the harvested crop in a thin mat extending across the width of the feederhouse.
How the planar movement of this thin mat of crop material is introduced into the axial flow rotor is critical to the efficiency of the combine. An unsymmetrical infeed plate was proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,929. This proposed inlet structure comprises a substantially planar infeed plate wherein one side of the plate is provided with a steeper ramp. In addition, mounting crop dividing guide vanes on the infeed plate has also been proposed, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,815.